Now it’s Yahoo’s turn to come out with an Android phone

Well, this may sound weird for the first time, but it’s true. After the Google phone now Yahoo rolls out with its Android based smartphone in Japan. Sources say that this android phone from Yahoo has chosen “Softbank”, the country’s third biggest mobile operator as its provider. Softbank is considered to be Yahoo’s biggest shareholder in Japan and this clearly gives us some sense on what the company is upto.

And the strangest fact is that, the mobile is made to run on an OS, which is considered to be the biggest competitor to the company in the search engine space. But never come to conclusions, as Yahoo is a popular site in Japan compared to its rival, Google and proves to be the biggest site in the country till date.

Now coming to the phone, it will be manufactured by Sharp. The phone will be running on Android 2.3 (Ginger Bread) and will sport a 4-inch LCD with qHD resolutions. The phone also features 3.0 version of Bluetooth technology, IEEE 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and infrared for connectivity. In addition to these features the phone also comes with a built-in digital TV tuner card and e-wallet function unlike other smartphones.

One can expect a wide range of Android applications and services to choose from on purchase. Many of these applications are Japanese based. Some examples are Yahoo Japan Auctions, Yahoo Japan, Yahoo Loco, calendar, Yahoo Japan news and Yahoo dictionary.

Softbank subscribers have also got a reason to be happy now as it announces free premium membership from Yahoo for two years ( well, that makes you save around $4.50 monthly). This also will give additional points on every purchase made through Yahoo shopping for the next two years.

It’s time for Google to worry as the phone is set to hit out into the Japan markets next month.